National Gallery of Canada

Red
can illustrate rhythm. Rhythm is the sound of a heartbeat or a catchy
tune. Visual rhythm is a sequence of shapes patterned to direct the eye around
an artwork. Jean-Paul Riopelle creates rhythm in the spiral movement of The
Wheel II. Its shades and shapes come from spontaneous movement and paint application,
characteristic of the Automatistes. The eye travels over the surface rather
than resting on a central subject. Rhythm can be found in representation or
abstraction, from Nevinson's depictions of charging soldiers to Janet Kigusiuq's
Caribou Meat Covered with Flies.

A sweeping spiral takes form out of a concentration of shard-like shapes.
Variations of thick and thin, red-orange and red-blue push out from a central
vortex. These reds, dense and concentrated, then dissipated, suggest the shape
of the wheel. With his technique of building up planes of paint side by side,
Riopelle creates a repetition of motion and rhythm, capturing the cycle of the
wheel's rotation. Medieval stained-glass windows inspire the spectrum of colours
on the surface.
Jean-Paul Riopelle was a member of the Automatistes, a group
of Quebec artists who stressed the supremacy of the accident in the creative
process. This work records the artist's energetic gesture of improvisation with
the palette knife full of paint.

Tookoome imprints memories of relationships with humans and animals, signalling
that each is as important as any other. This is an autobiographical image -
one of many - where the artist shows the influence of legends and myths on his
life.
In Tookoome's print, the solid red background emphasizes the features
of the figures. The striped necks of the animals and humans radiate from the
centre encouraging our eye to flow in a rhythmic circular pattern.

A mass of uniformed men,
heads bowed and resigned to the task, march forward. Raised and tilted guns
punctuate the rhythmic mass. Repeated application of bright red creates a formal
line across the canvas. Red unifies and delineates the subjects of the painting.
Nevinson, a British artist, was influenced by Italian Futurism, an early twentieth-century
art movement that championed the machines of the technological age and celebrated
the aesthetics of war. This painting shows elements of Futurism, focusing on
its depiction of fragmented figures the image of the marching soldier repeated
in a jagged movement. Nevinson adapted the style of Futurism to convey the horrors
of war by aligning the advent of industrialization with the grim reality of
battle. The red motif in the painting suggests a collective march to injury
or death. Returning to the Trenches challenges heroic notions of war.

In art from Baker Lake,
drawn, printed or appliquéd Inuit images are usually placed on a solid ground.
Artwork depicting the hunt typically shows heroic figures in action.
In this
drawing, a dismembered caribou lies alone on the tundra, covered with flies.
It is surrounded by shades of pink, orange, and red, suggesting a pool of blood
and the vitality of the animal. Using pencil crayon, the artist fills in areas
with repeated lines to represent the tundra and draws hundreds of flies on the
carcass in smudgy lead pencil. We can see the pattern of swarming flies and
imagine the rhythm of their buzzing. Traditionally, a hunted animal would immediately
be prepared to be eaten or stored. One is left to wonder why the caribou carcass
has been abandoned.

A majestic Eiffel Tower is set against the glowing heat
of a red sun in a vibrant pink sky. Floating on the lush landscape, cooled by
the shade of the green leaves of a tree, a woman peacefully sleeps. A rooster
serenades her with the music of his violin.
Chagall was known for his use of
magic realism, or the playful projection of themes of dream and fantasy onto
the canvas. With a sense of relief in returning to Paris after a long absence,
the artist celebrates his love of the city, his love for his wife, and tender
moments in the relationship between men and women. He combined symbolic colours
and animal and human subjects in idyllic settings that reflect the influence
of his unconscious. In this painting the rooster embodies male energy, and the
reds of the sunset or sunrise represent the forces of the sun.